Photo: Chris Ricco/Backpagepix Nelspruit — CHIPOLOPOLO coach Herve Renard yesterday got a major boost for his push for an Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarter-final place following the return to training of defence kingpin Stoppila Sunzu and Joseph Musonda.
The duo sat out of training on Saturday after picking up knocks in Zambia's 1-1 draw against Nigeria.
Sunzu and Musonda were part of the Chipolopolo squad that was found training at Ka Nyamazane stadium here yesterday.
Chipolopolo team doctor Joseph Kabungo said the players would be ready for the 2013 AFCON Group C final match against Burkina Faso.
Kabungo said as a precautionary measure, the players were left out of training on Saturday to enable them to recover from the minor knocks picked up during the match against Nigeria as the medical team did not want to aggravate the injuries.
He said Sunzu picked up an injury just in front of his knee while Musonda sustained a knock on his hip.
"There is no cause to worry over Sunzu and Musonda as the two just picked up some minor injuries which we need not risk with.
"So we decided to rest them and check how they would respond and I was happy with their recover; that is why we decided to make them train this morning (yesterday)," he said.
Kabungo said the two would be ready for selection for Chipolopolo's must-win encounter against Burkina Faso and that he was happy with the clean bill of health in the team.
Meanwhile, Nathan Sinkala is available for Zambia's match against Burkina Faso tomorrow after records showed that he picked up only one yellow card in a match against Nigeria, having not been booked in the Ethiopia game.
Assistant coach Honour Janza said the Chipolopolo had picked up six yellow cards and that Sinkala, who is an integral part of the team, was available to play.
Collins Mbesuma, Sunzu, Chisamba Lungu and Musonda got yellow cards against Ethiopia while Emmanuel Mbola and Sinkala went into the referee's book on Friday during the match against Nigeria.
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